Quote:
Originally Posted by Iowa_Flames_Fan
It's tough because drunk driving really is a legitimate public policy issue. But in a free society you can't address an issue like that through the institution of draconian laws that do away with the presumption of innocence, require accused persons to provide evidence against themselves and limit the kinds of evidence they can lead in their own defence, all of which Canadian impaired law has basically done.
Impounding vehicles and imposing a fine, on a non-reviewable basis at a police officer's discretion is a particularly alarming step to take.
And to clarify, it would be totally different if the Criminal Code contemplated a "between .05 and .08" offence, and prescribed penalties in law accordingly--and required the Crown to prove the offence beyond a reasonable doubt, as they do with every other offence in the Code. But that isn't what's happening here.
What we have is provinces (who cannot validly enact criminal laws) creating rules under their respective Highway Traffic Acts that impose criminal penalties without the benefit of a hearing. That's not acceptable in a free society, and if the judiciary isn't willing to stop it, then the people in office who are eroding our civil liberties in this manner need to hear about it from their constituents.
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And thats exactly the situation. Summed up rather nicely too.
If you want the legal limit to be 0.05 or 0.10 or 0.0 then do it the right way. This is Mickey Mouse nonsensical BS thats going to cause more problems than its worth.
And while drinking and driving is a serious social issue, this isnt the right way of going about fixing it. Hell, people cant even agree on whether or not its actually been a deterrent in places where its already been instituted.
Not to mention the fact that the entire idea behind this legislation so inbred and ass-backwards its insane.
"We have to stop drunk drivers from killing people!"
- OKay, heres the plan, lets institute what effectively amounts to a traffic ticket and a 24 hour pain in the ass. That'll surely stop 'Johnny 10 Pint' from driving the next time he closes down the bar.
Meanwhile, Johnny 10 Pint is on his third DUI and gets a 6 month licence suspension the next time he gets caught.
Wheres the real problem? Maybe they should start by fixing that first, but everyone wants to do something brand new and shiny.